Whole house surge protection explained, debunked

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It’s well known that electrical surges can damage computers and AV equipment, but there are so many myths about ’em. One of the latest snake oil-type devices are so-called ‘whole house surge protectors’ but while they sound like a great idea, the vast majority of electrical surges aren’t caused by external issues that these costly systems address.

Internal surge levels are related to the magnitude of current being interrupted and the length of wire from the service entrance to the load. The longer the wire and the higher the current, the bigger the surge generated when the power is interrupted.